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Published: January 8th 2010
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I hope you didn’t think I perished in Bali, having left the blog hanging there weeks ago!
I found a clean place to stay in Kuta, without airconditioning, but with two swimming pools (one was obviously not enough for the ambitious owners). There I caught up with a little sleep and set off to discover Kuta - still a hugely popular destination for Australian beach and party lovers who want to go abroad, but not too far.
The weather was perfect, as were the warm sea and long sandy beach. There seemed to be no crowds, and the people were friendly enough. The population in Kuta was probably half Indonesian, half visitors, and most of the visitors were Australian. There were plenty of beach-salesmen - not selling beaches, but aggressively selling everything you could possibly want or not on the beach, mainly sunglasses, massages and handmade blow pipes.
The dozens of little shops that lined the streets were also quite forward in their invitations for the passing tourist to buy a t-shirt or three. It was my last foreign stay before reaching Australia, so I bought some souvenirs. I also took advantage of the competitive sunglasses retailing, as
on my first day in Bali I was having a very nice swim, but forgot I was wearing my sunglasses as I dived under a wave. I gave up looking for them after about ten minutes.
I have always felt a bit lacking in the ‘being Australian’ area when comes came to surfing. I think it is just assumed that all Australians surf, and are good at it. I must be the exception, but intended to remedy this with the good surf and plentiful supply of surf schools in Kuta. I went along to Pro-Surf and enrolled for a morning’s session the next day. As I was leaving I looked at the face of one of that day’s trainee surfers, just returning from a lesson, and recognized Tom - my travelling companion on the train journey from Butterworth to Singapore; he who was reluctant to change his money to buy me drink (if you have been paying attention to previous blogs you will remember him). He had mentioned heading to Bali, but to bump into him like this was amazing.
Tom was looking well and happy, and seemed to have got over his dramatic experience in Thailand (the
usual thing - crashed scooter, on the run from the police and so on…). He told me he had discovered his true calling in life - surfing - and was perfecting his skill every day. We caught up that night over a meal, some Bintang beers (the local Bali brew that furnishes all the well-dressed tourists with branded vests), and a rather large number of huge cocktails in the legendary Bounty night club. Bounty was quite extraordinary: a massive venue with thousands of young Aussie clubbers. I had always thought I would keep clear of nightclubs on Bali, following the bombings a few years ago. I think it was the Bintang that made me forget my resolve.
Next morning I was so hung over I missed my surf lesson. I went to the surf shop later to apologize, and was greeted with, “Nick! Nick! What happened? How’s your head?” Apparently they were used to it. I enrolled for a lesson the next day, and managed to get up in time with a clearer head. I had a similar experience to Tom - I feel I have now discovered my true vocation, and am determined to surf every day for
the rest of my life. Well, maybe not every day, but I enjoyed the experience hugely. I was standing up and catching white waves (although not the big, curling, crashing green ones) after only a little instruction. It was exhausting, but a big thrill when getting the balance right and surfing into shore.
My next destination was Darwin. After missing my cheap, booked-in-advance, flight there, due to having to get a different ferry from Singapore, my only option was now to buy a startlingly expensive flight at short notice. This made a hole in my funds for the next stages of my trip, which in the end forced me to alter my style of travel. I really liked Bali, even though I only saw one of the touristy parts. I can see why so many people go there, and then go back again year after year.
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